Outbreak Central
by evilgregguy
Summary: The citizens of Morde fight for their lives when the undead attack their city. No DotD elements present, but zombies nonetheless.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone, this is Greg here.  
New story here called Outbreak Central, and props go to my friend Jake for writing this, but didn't have an account, so I am posting it for him, R&R please. **

* * *

It was not a particularly cold day in Morde. The citizens were used to the sharp wind constantly sweeping in from the sea, but even today, the wind was not very active. There was no seeping rain or painfully fresh air. No, what made this day more biting and chilling than any other was the moans. The wretched moans echoing across the city, ricocheting from building to building and paralyzing all who heard them.

Occasionally, a human scream would erupt from a distant place. Some who caught that sound froze and gulped. Others who heard it turned their heads and began to step slowly in the direction from which the sound came. This was not the only discrepancy between these two factions. The main difference, in fact, was their state of life. One half had a racing pulse and an unsteady hand. The other half had instead no pulse at all, and cloudy eyes more frightening than death. And yet both of these halves walked, and ate...

The government had been releasing absolutely no information of importance to the general public. The entire country knew what was going on, though. They had all read the books and jumped out of their seats at the movie theaters. There was more than enough material about these, until recently, fictional beasts, these "Zombies". They were the living dead. Bodies rising up to feed. And their favorite snack was human flesh.

It was, of course, common knowledge that any bite inflicted by one of these zombies onto a human transformed the one they had bitten into a zombie themselves. Bad side-effect.

People across the US were gearing up for these monsters. The news reports were coming in from all over, stories about the undead overrunning towns everywhere. Adults were angry, teens were skeptical, and children were frightened. The army moved into many major cities to set up defenses and try to control any outbreaks. It was mostly futile, as the military was simply not trained to deal with an enemy of incredible durability whose only goal was to devour humankind. Plus, the soldiers were simply unprepared for the psychological stress they would have to deal with. Faced with their comrades dying and joining the ranks of their enemy, and the constant moaning and snarling and mindless aggression, it drove many a brave man insane.

Fathers of households were boarding up their windows, filling up bathtubs, and buying guns. Young and foolish girls and boys were out partying what they thought may be their last parties. Policemen were patrolling the streets day and night, doing their best to remain calm, some rookie officers wetting their pants should a shadow move in an alley. The homeless were just trying to get the hell _off_ the streets and into somewhere safe. Crime basically stopped, as robbers and crazed gunmen saved their ambition for later, or at least until there were no freaking dead people walking around.

The city of Morde was counted among the most interesting cases of an infested city. So many instances of strange courage, horrible judgment, surprising alliances, and incredible battle between the survivors and the zombie threat. Truly a diverse and crazy city, it was one of the first to be overrun, and one of the worst-handled overall. So much carnage and so many mishaps. The government made little effort to officially escort residents to the relative "safe haven" of Leenman Island, sealed off by army forces early on.

The few humans remaining in Morde fought for their lives. The one true goal was to make their way to Leenman Island by any means necessary. They had all listened to their radios, all heard that the island was sealed off to the undead, and that any survivors should go to the island and save themselves. The survivors heard, and as one, stood, and began to gather their things. It was either Leenman or death. The latter option did not look appealing in the least.


	2. Chapter 2

Liam was sitting on a stack of boxes, thinking deeply. He had found this tiny mart in one of the crime-riddled parts of town. It was well-stocked with all manner of food and drink. He had even found a handgun under the front counter. Probably used by the owner a few times too many to defend his store.  
_What a dirty little part of town_, thought Liam. _No wonder it was abandoned early on in the outbreak. People who lived here probably didn't own much, and didn't care about their broken-down apartments enough to stay._  
He reached up and shoved his bandanna a little farther up on his forehead. He had just gotten this one a while back. It was red, and soaked up the sweat well, keeping it out of his eyes. _Perfect for fighting zombies_.  
Liam lay back on the cardboard box and closed his eyes. He didn't need sleep; He had been almost a constant watch during his tenure with the Forces. For some reason, he could not seem to shut his brain completely off. Every time he drifted off, he saw Frank. Frank Wells. The man Liam had killed.  
The friend Liam had killed.  
There was a crash in the front of the store, a breaking of glass. He calmly opened his eyes and sat up. He let out a rare sigh.

Victor swatted at the selection of alcohol on the shelves of Harold Liquor Store. "Bad…l-liquor…ba-….", Victor mumbled. The virus was jumbling his thoughts, screwing with his brain. He felt drunk. No, he felt wasted. And hungry. The hunger surged through him like an animal, coming out of his mouth in a howl. He was hungry. _Hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry. Food._Thought Victor.  
_B-b-but no not hungry not food._ Victor shook his head repeatedly. _Not hungry not zombie no cure. Yes cure. Cure. Foo-food no cure. Cure, yes cure._  
Victor shuffled to the door of the store. He smacked it with his hand, over and over. Then, seeming to remember something, grabbed the handle awkwardly. He pulled. The door opened.  
_Do-don't forget, hand. Hand and pull and food. Food. Hungry hungry hungry hungry…_

Damen pushed on the boards. They were sturdy enough to hold a few zombies back, working with the door to the shop as well. He turned and leaned against his new barricade. He thought back to that one summer when Ricky had been obsessed with forts. He made his daddy build him a little treehouse up in the big tree around the back of the house. It came complete with a fake little telescope attached, and some wooden board steps. He had loved it. "It's so cool!" Ricky had exclaimed, jumping into his arms.  
Those were the good days, before Julie got angry. _Angry at me_, thought Damen _for never being there. For not raising my children._. He couldn't blame her, he was away very often for his work, burritos her with the kids. _burritos a woman without a husband and two kids without a father_. Damen squatted and his eyes watered up.  
Now with all this crap. All this zombie garbage. Now it's me who is alone. Me who is without a wife or children. I deserved it. But not like this. _My family didn't deserve this. They were good. I was bad. I only cared about my job and my guns. I guess I still do._  
Damen held his revolver in his hands. It was polished. He realized he must have polished it subconsciously before putting up the boards. _So this is what I am_ Damen clamped his jaw shut. _I am a zombie._  
_But no. I am NOT a zombie. Those damn zombies took my family away from me. Took them and didn't even give it a second thought. Never even thought at all. No, I will kill the zombies. They will die. And if I die trying to kill them, so be it. Who cares now about my life or death? Not even me._  
Damen got up, punched the wall, and went to stock up on guns. _I broke my finger_ he smirked, _But I can still shoot_.

Jackson laughed and threw a beer can down from his window. It beaned a passing zombie on the head, and the zombie fell over.  
"Ha!. Score one for mankind!" Jackson pumped his fist in the air. "Too bad I don't have a rifle. I could take out so many of these slugs…haha!"  
The zombie was attempting to stand back up on its feet. The only problem was its missing arm. It couldn't quite get the leverage to right itself. After a few unsuccessful attempts, it finally rolled over onto its stomach, pushing against the ground and standing up.  
Jackson was smiling. "Still Man 1, Zombie 0, slug!" he insisted. The zombie looked up at him, snarling and drooling. Surprisingly to Jackson, the zombie just turned and started walking away, as though it had given a warning and then lost interest. Jackson smiled wide again. _These things never cease to amaze me. I've never actually gone into service, but I'm sure the enemy would be nothing like zombies. Human enemies can be killed when their intestines fall out._  
Jackson enjoyed joking to himself like this. He had been alone for quite some time now. Just him and his weapons. In this little toilet of an apartment.  
The tall and gruff man walked across the room and to the little counter in his kitchen. On it were his shotgun and handguns. He checked them, and made sure they were loaded. He then pulled his trusty knife out of its sheath, check to make sure it was sharp, and slid it back in. Jackson grabbed the guns and opened the front door.  
_Zombie hunting._ He smiled and shut the door.

Mick Steel was walking through the street, searching for food. Food was his only desire. No more cameras or dreams of fame. Just food. Always hungry, always looking for food.  
Out of nowhere, a metal object came hurtling down and hit him in the head. Mick was stunned, and fell to the pavement. He was more confused than normal by this sudden assault. He lie still for a moment, before trying to pull himself up with his one arm. He could not get decent leverage, and failed to stand. He could hear laughing from above.  
_Food? Food eat food hungry eat laugh. Hungry. Eat laugh._ Mick began to drool uncontrollably. He accidentally rolled over, and it proved to be a blessing, as he could now lift himself onto his feet. Mick stood and looked up at where he thought the laugh had been coming from. He snarled when he saw a tall man standing in a window many stories above.  
"Still Man 1, Zombie 0, slug!" Yelled the man. Mick snarled and drooled. _Eat….eat laugh eat, hungry. Eat laugh. No no eat laugh. Nigh laugh so high try eat laugh, no laugh. High too high._  
Mick turned away from the man so high up, and began to walk away. He heard the faint sound of a door slamming.

Jessica tapped one of the sleeping officers on the shoulder. He immediately awoke and shot up, swinging his gun around in front of him.  
"Ahem." Jessica smiled a little. The young policeman turned to her and widened his eyes sheepishly. "It's alright." She told him.  
"Yes, uh, sorry. So, who are you?" The officer wouldn't meet her eyes directly.  
"I'm Jessica Stryker, Deputy Minister of Defense. I came down here to check out what was left of our police force and maybe help out if I could. Is there someone in charge of this group?" She asked the young man, a bit annoyed at his lack of courage.  
"I am." An older officer got up from where he was sitting with some other men. "Name's Jack. I think formalities have gone far out the window at this point, Ms. Stryker."  
Jessica shook his hand. "Yes, well, the living dead can do that. Is this all that's left of Morde's police force?"  
"Well, no. We have some guys back at the station. With some of the civilians. They're alright. We're just here to watch the barricade."  
Both of them stepped over to the 8-foot-tall wall of assorted boards, metal plates, and pieces of whatever the builders had found strewn about the streets. Jessica noted that it was anything but flawless; Many weak points and holes. It had been constructed a bit too hastily.  
"Hopefully the zombies are as slow and stupid as we've been told. We can just pick 'em off before they can get anywhere near the wall." Jack gazed with pride at this misshapen creation.  
There was a yelp of surprise from the group of policemen Jack had been sitting with. Jessica quickly jogged over to find out what the commotion was about, and Jack followed closely behind. The men were staring at the wall. Jessica pushed one of the men aside while another one of the officers was already climbing to the top of the wall.  
Out of one of the holes in the wall was sticking a mottled gray and bloody arm. Then came the dreadful moan.

Sarah sat in a dark alleyway, staring at a rat sitting opposite her. She cocked her head. The rat scurried away into a crack in the wall. Sarah felt almost disappointed, as much as a zombie could have emotion.  
_Raaat. Rat away in the wall? Wall…eat rat. Sarah eat rat want hungry eat rat. Sarah…Sarah? Rat, eat rat Sarah? Sarah? Me?_  
She looked confused. Was she Sarah? Who was Sarah? Sarah is her?  
_Sarah Sarah Sarah want Sarah in…rat, eat? Hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry Sarah…_

Nick sat out by the campfire. _Away from that hellhole city. No work. Just me and the forest air and maybe a relationship with Jenny. This is so great._  
He stared into the fire and his thoughts switched over to the news reports he had heard before they left to go camping. About those "zombies" or whatever. _I can't believe those moronic news people would believe such an obvious hoax like that. It's just stupid. I shouldn't watch the news anymore. All politics and liars. Or political liars. There's a lot of those._  
Nick smiled, and his eyes shifted away from the fire and into the woods. He frowned. Were those shadows he saw on the trees? Or people?  
"What the hell?" Nick stood up. He was sure he had seen something this time. He heard a twig snap somewhere far off and his heart began to beat faster. Something was definitely out there.  
He turned and ran to the tent where his father was sleeping. Nick zipped open the flap and peered inside.  
"Dad!" He half-whispered. "There's something in the woods! C'mon!"  
He waited a moment, and his father did not answer. Nick stepped inside and shook him.  
Nothing.  
Nick, his hands shaking, backed out of the tent. He glanced over to the other tent, and did a double-take. Something was moving against the flap from the inside. Jenny and her father were sleeping in that tent. Nick was too afraid to speak.  
A screech sounded from the surrounding woods. Nick stood and spun around. One screech.  
Then a second.  
Then two more.

"Young man, can you open this for me?" An older man held out a bottle of pills. Jeff took them and quickly tonicped the cap off. He shook one of the pills out and closed it. He handed it and the pill back to the man.  
The old man chuckled. "At least there's still some decency in this world even when life becomes a horror movie." The man coughed and swallowed the pill.  
Jeff nodded to the man and got up. He started down the long hallway, towards the front of the police station.  
_My first priority is to find Lauren. She's out there somewhere, probably looking for me. I shouldn't have called her in for the weekend. I'll never forgive myself if something happened to her when she got here…_ Jeff gritted his teeth.  
He walked up to the front desk and the policeman sitting there looked over at him.  
"You can't go out, kid. It's all boarded up. Nobody goes in, nobody goes out. At least not until they get here to help out."  
Jeff had previously tried to go out, but the officers wouldn't let him. They didn't want him bringing the zombies into a safe place like this. But this time he wasn't here to try and walk out the front door.  
"Actually, I was going to ask if there's some kind of back door or something. I really, really need to get out." Jeff made sure to give the cop his best pleading expression.  
The officer shook his head. "You can't. Chief's orders. We have ta keep all of you here until it's safe."  
Jeff's expression turned to anger. "I have…someone I need to go and find. I have to know if she's safe too! Now, before it's too late!"  
"Your girl's gone, kid. Nobody but the creeps out there now." The officer looked slightly amused at Jeff's anger.  
Jeff was about to make a rude remark about the man's weight when he felt the end of his katana butt into his side. He looked down at his most prized possession. Whenever he was in trouble, whenever he was faced with doubt, all he had to do was look at his katana. The greatest gift his brother had ever given him, and just a few minutes before his untimely death. Jeff suddenly had an idea.  
"You're incorrect." Jeff stated. The officer looked up at him. But what the man saw was Jeff charging at him. He nearly fell out of his chair as the young man jumped. But Jeff was not attacking. His feet rebounded off of the edge of the counter, and he went flying into the air, crashed through the window, and landed on the hard ground outside, rolling.

Amaterasu walked briskly down the walkway leading up to the hospital. After his grandfather's death, and all that blood and carnage from the zombies…he just needed to get out of there.  
_Grandfather must have been killed by one of those beasts. This outbreak is a curse placed upon this wretched city, and grandfather was caught by it. Maybe I'll die too. But not before I avenge him. Not before I slay these demons._ Amaterasu locked his jaw, determined.  
He had been lost in his own mind, and he did not hear the screams for a second. But then he looked up as a piercing yell rang out from the direction of the hospital. He turned. There was a crash from inside the building. Amaterasu almost thought of running from this place, but he stopped himself. Maybe it was one of the infected, come to devour the souls of other innocent humans. He could not stand by and let the ones who killed his grandfather go unpunished, free to do as they wish, not after he had sworn to himself to be an avenger.  
Amaterasu made his decision and ran up to the front door. As soon as he got inside, a few scared patients and nurses ran past, away from the lobby. He walked up to the corner, and cautiously peered around it. There were a few items on the floor. And blood. And the body of a doctor.  
There were three patients kneeling around him, tearing into his gut. Only, they were patients no longer. Now they were gruesome creatures, each with vacant stares and gray, slick skin. Their mouths were bloody and chewing on whatever they grabbed from the doctor's belly. Amaterasu, stoic young man as he was, failed to swallow the lump in his throat, and began to sweat. These were no sparring partners. These were the stuff of nightmares.  
Amaterasu grimaced and removed the Walther P99 from his belt. _I'm sorry I could not save you, grandfather._ He closed his eyes._I hope I do your memory justice_.  
He moved from behind the wall and aimed at the zombies, firing bullets of vengeance.


	3. Chapter 3

The bullets of vengeance happened to pass cleanly through the heads of the first two zombies. The third looked up from its meal only to meet the same fate. Amaterasu's weapon had done its job. The young avenger nodded his head once; The sign of a good victory.  
Amaterasu suddenly felt cold hands gripping his neck. He tried to wrestle free of the zombie's chilling clutches, but it had a tight hold. The creature moved in close to take a bite out of his shoulder. Unfortunately for the zombie, this move had given Amaterasu just enough leverage to boost the walking corpse up and over his shoulder, throwing it to the floor. Before the zombie could get up, Amaterasu whipped out one of his daggers and plunged it into the zombie's forehead. He came down with enough force that the head nearly split open.  
_A fittingly gruesome end for such a being_ Thought Amaterasu, wiping the blood off of the blade using the zombie's ragged shirt.  
He stood up and made sure there were no more silent zombies behind him. He would not be caught so off-guard again. The determined man pulled the collar down on his jacket and strode out through the door of the hospital. He would locate somewhere safe, and on the way, kill as many decrepit beasts as he could.

Nick ran, weaving through the trees. He carried with him a lit stick from the fire, the only weapon he could grab before the zombies were upon him. He believed in zombies now. Now that he had seen their monstrous faces and heard their deep, hungry growls. The news had been right! There were zombies!  
He had outrun them a while back; they were much slower than humans. But Nick did not dare stop running. He was afraid. The most afraid he had been since he could remember. These things, he realized, could _kill_ him, could eat him like the mythical monsters in the fairy tales and folklore. But this was no fairy tale.  
Nick soon ran himself out, and had to slow his pace to a walk. His pulse was racing, and he had the torch thrust out in front of him like a shield. The moon was not very bright on this night, and without the light from the stick, he would probably step right into the gaping jaws of one of the undead.  
_Where am I going?_ Nick asked himself after a few minutes of walking. _I should probably head for the city. It's not too far. Maybe there I can get some help. Get somebody with a gun to help, preferably_  
Nick had never fired a gun before, but he sure was going to learn. This stick was not the ideal zombie killer.

Jessica wasn't necessarily frightened by the sight of this arm. It looked like a dead arm. It _was_ a dead arm. But…this dead arm was moving, wriggling through the hole in the barricade.  
"Wow." It was the soldier who had climbed up the wall. He was no checking the other side. "There's a few of them over here. You should come take a look, sir."  
Jack leapt up on to the wall, surprisingly nimble for his age, and climbed up to the soldier's position. Jessica did the same. She peered over the edge of the wall, and saw four zombies walking toward their position, and a fifth down at the wall already. That was the arm.  
She removed one of her two pistols from its holster, and pointed it at the nearest zombie, the one down below at the wall. She fired straight into its head. She heard the crack of the bullet entering the skull, and some blood and brain tissue splattered across the ground. The zombie fell, its arm still lodged in the wall, causing it to hang there like a carelessly tossed puppet. One of the cops was brave enough to grab the arm and shove it through, pushing the zombie out and allowing it to fall properly.  
The other four had just now reached the wall. Jack grinned.  
"Target practice?" He suggested to the soldier next to him. The two men took down two of the zombies, and Jessica followed suit, quickly blasting the brains out of both of the others. The three of them climbed down from the wall.  
"Nothing to it. Just kill the brain, and you're good to go." Jack was still grinning.  
Jessica glared at him. "Remember, the same applies to humans, except that we _can_ get injured or lose blood or die of internal damage. This isn't a game."  
Jack looked embarrassed. "Ah, no. It isn't, you're right. We need to hold this barricade at all costs. No time for sport."  
The soldier who had been on the wall with them stepped up.  
"Hey, uh, if I could ask a question…what are you going to do now?" He was directing the question at Jessica.  
"Well, I was dropped off here, and I don't think that jeep is coming back anytime soon. So I guess I'll try to rescue anybody still trapped by the zombies. It's my duty." She said proudly.  
"Do you want to take a soldier with you? You shouldn't go alone." Jack said.  
"Sure. Got any women here…?" Jessica asked jokingly.  
"I'll go." Volunteered the soldier. "My name's Brad Shuman. I'm not a cop, I'm one of the military guys here."  
Jessica looked him up and down. "Alright. C'mon. Where do you think we should go?"  
Brad shrugged. "We should just head in the direction of the bay. All the survivors would be heading towards Leenman. That's where the safe zone is."  
Jessica nodded. "Let's go then."

Damen had been listening to the radio. He knew where everyone would be headed. Leenman Island. That so-called "Safe haven". Cut off to the zombies by the government. Supposedly the best place to go "at this time".  
_And why not?_ Thought Damen to himself. _It is probably the most easily defensible area in the city. And they probably did have a sizeable force there. One that they could be using to actually escort people out of the city and into that safe haven. But…_  
Damen shook his head. It really _was_ the best place to go, wasn't it? He couldn't stay here. He had enough protection from the undead, but nowhere near enough provisions. If he headed to Leenman, he could pick up some supplies along the way.  
Then it was decided. He would go to the island. _Sounds like some sort of secret mission._  
Damen gathered his various weapons and threw them into a sack. He slung the sack over his shoulder and trudged to the back door. _Phew_ he sighed.  
Damen opened the door and stepped out, straight into the hands of a zombie.

Sarah stepped slowly out of the alley and into the blinding sunlight. Not blinding to her, of course. Zombies do not need sunglasses or brimmed hats.  
_Food….Hungry, food food. Rat? Sarah? Food food hungry food. No….Sarah…_ She squinted her eyes as she attempted to form thought, but she couldn't quite grab hold of coherency.  
Sarah felt that she needed to….to do something. Not just eat, but do something. Something important. She didn't know what this important objective was yet, but…she could not suppress the hunger for long.  
She moved down the street, desperately trying to wrestle control over her instincts. A loud groan escaped her lips.

Jeff got up off of the ground and began to jog away. The cop from the front desk did not follow. All he heard was the officer shout out to him, "You won't be back!" Jeff didn't feel like arguing.  
He made his way through some side streets, and ended up near a section of apartment buildings. He felt slightly lost, and he heard the occasional moan off in the distance. He even heard some gunshots at one point. But Jeff had no idea where he was, or even where he was going.  
He knew that he was looking for Lauren. That was his only goal right now. Until he found her, he would not rest. What he would need to survive is a few provisions. _I wonder if I can find a store around here somewhere…_  
"You lost, buddy?" It was a man's voice. Jeff turned to find a black-clad man toting a shotgun with a contemplating smirk on his face.  
"Uh, yeah. Who're you? Another survivor? Because I just came from the police station, I thought we were some of the only people left in the city." Jeff's hand moved closer to his sword. He could never be too careful.  
"Ha, I guess you could call me a survivor, sure. I'm just playing a sport, really. That's what life's all about. Staying alive and killing something else because you can."  
Jeff's hand was now touching the katana. "A sport, you say? Interesting, when so many lives are at stake. Don't you think that way of thinking is a bit inhumane?"  
The man didn't speak for two or three minutes. He simply stared into Jeff's eyes. It unnerved him, and Jeff finally had to avert his eyes.  
"The name's Jackson." Said the man finally. "What are you doing away from your safe police station anyway? You SWAT?"  
Jeff looked down at the armor he had "borrowed" for protection. "No. I'm just a guy. I'm trying to find someone."  
"A girl?" Jackson winked.  
"…Yes. Lauren. She came to the city for the weekend, and then all this happened, I haven't heard from her since she got here." Jeff tried to hide his pain at the thought that something might have happened to her, but he knew that Jackson could see it clearly.  
Jackson smiled wide. "I'll come with you. Not like I've got anything better to do." He walked toward Jeff.  
Jeff was stunned. This man that he had just met was offering to help search for Lauren? He wasn't sure about this. He also wasn't sure if he really liked this man all that much. _But another gun is another gun_ Jeff sighed inwardly.  
"Okay. Just don't do anything stupid." Jeff pointed at him.  
Jackson laughed. "I don't do stupid things. I just like to shoot."

Jackson was interested in his new companion. As they walked together along the street, he looked him over. He appeared to only be a young guy, maybe not even 18 yet. He had a sword, one of those Japanese ones that seemed to be really tonicular. Jackson wondered if the guy could actually use it, or if he had just picked it up somewhere.  
"So you, you're a samurai or something, huh?" He motioned towards the sword.  
Jeff touched the grip and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. A samurai….This sword was a gift from my brother. I had trained as a kid with this type of weapon, but I had never owned one. So for my 16th birthday, Danny got me this." Jeff pulled the sword out of its sheath, and the sharp metal glinted in the sunlight.  
Jeff's face suddenly fell. "He gave it to me, and then he died, just a few minutes later. Some freak illness; attacked his body, he was in the hospital when he gave it to me." Jeff swung the katana around and slid it back into the sheath.  
Jackson shook his head. "That's too bad."  
Jeff scratched the back of his neck, and picked up the pace. "C'mon, we should get somewhere safe before sundown. We still have zombies to worry about."  
Jackson lifted his shotgun and patted it. "Right," he said with a chuckle, "Worry."

Mick shambled down the street, his eyes staring at nothing in particular. Maybe a bird flying overhead would draw his attention now and then, but only because it looked oh so appetizing. This particular zombie was doing nothing of importance.  
_Hungry…._ This simple thought was the only thought this creature formulated now. _Eat._ Might crawl into his sunken mind now and then, but it so happens that the word _Eat._ only came about after he had previously stated that he was _Hungry._  
Mick stumbled upon a small mart. It had a big bright yellow awning. Some sounds from inside attracted him to one of the windows. The place was partially barricaded. There were boxes stackd against the door from the inside.  
But Mick wasn't interested in that at the moment. He could smell _food_. A human meal. Inside the store.  
Mick's gray fist slammed against the window. Once, twice, three times. On the eighth slam, the window cracked. On the tenth, it shattered. Mick did his best to pull himself through the window, landing heavily inside the store. He heard shoes hit the floor, and cautious steps coming ever closer.

Liam stood a few feet away from the zombie that had broken the window and lifted itself into the store. It was now rising up on unsteady legs, and it looked at him. Looked at him with predatory eyes.  
The calm man didn't feel uncomforted by the stare. It was a stare he had seen a few times in his life. Usually, when something looks at you that way, you either run or prevent those eyes from looking at you any longer. Liam liked that second option.  
He decided against using the handgun. _Why waste a oxet on this pathetic enemy?_  
Liam stepped over and picked up the broken flashlight he had found earlierin the back room. It was heavy enough. Liam and the zombie began to move at the same time.  
The creature came at Liam with its one arm held out, ready to rip its meals throat out. Liam came at the creature in a typical baseball stance, ready to swing into the zombie's head.  
The zombie came right into his range, and Liam brought the flashlight around, the momentum carrying it into the zombie's skull. The zombie crumpled instantly to the blow, and Liam stood over it, unsmiling,  
He was never happy about killing. Even if it _was_ a dead body he was killing. He tapped the zombie with his foot.  
Nothing. It was dead.  
He thought for a moment, then took hold of the body, lifted it up, and tossed it back through the window into the street. Liam didn't want it to suddenly spring to life again or something; he didn't really know if you could truly end these beast's lives.  
He began stacking miscellaneous things in front of the busted window. It wouldn't hold long, but he could take care of anything that got past.

Victor was slowly making his way down a street. It was night by this time, and the zombie needed some food. All he could think of was satisfying this aching hunger he felt in his belly.  
He limped towards a storefront. It was dark inside. No humans. Victor moved away from the window and continued to search for a meal.  
He stopped when he saw a young woman standing further down the street. Another zombie, like him. He was about to walk to her when something happened.  
A bright light flashed in front of his eyes. Where nothing was a moment ago, there was orange and yellow and swirling heat. Victor's zombie side was not deterred by it, but the last of his human instinct told him to halt. And that's what he did. But then there was another bright flash of light, and Victor was surrounded by this magical, flickering doom.  
This _fire_.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah heard footsteps, and she turned. Standing across the street was another zombie, like her. His hungry eyes were staring at her, and his Nike sneakers were covered in dried blood. The male zombie motioned forward.  
There was a smashing of glass as a bottle flew down from above and burst on the street in front of the zombie. Sarah watched as flames leapt from the ground, and as the male zombie stopped mid-motion.  
Another smash, a second bottle breaking, and more flames springing up. Then a third, and more flames. Now the zombie was surrounded. The blaze was taunting him, as much as a zombie could be taunted.  
Sarah caught a scent through the stench of the fire. Humans. A few of them. She backed away into the shadow of a building, and observed. Three humans carefully stepped out of the doorway of a building on the male zombie's side of the street. Two men and one woman. The woman snickered when she saw the flames that were close to engulfing the zombie.  
Sarah made her move, moving as fast as she could out from the shadows. By the time the second man saw her in the darkness, she was almost upon them. The woman screamed and darted back through the doorway, while the first man pulled a handgun from his belt.  
He was about to shoot when the male zombie, partly aflame, jumped on top of the second man, who shouted with surprise. The first man was distracted momentarily, giving Sarah enough time to reach him and quickly bite down on his arm. It was his turn to shout in surprise, and he hit Sarah in the head with his other hand.  
The female zombie felt no pain. She embraced him, almost hugging him, but this was no show of affection. This was the lion springing upon the buffalo, dragging it down and feeding upon its meat.  
She glanced up from her meal just once, to look at the male zombie, who was feasting on the second human. Then she dove back into her horrible dinner.

Victor's zombie instincts were struggling against his human fears. They wanted to pass through the fire. But his human side would not give in, the natural fear of burning alive.  
But Victor was not alive.  
He saw the scene through the fire. The young female zombie he had seen before was emerging from the shadow of a building on the other side of the street. The humans did not notice. She was halfway across the street. The humans did not notice.  
Then finally, the second man must have heard her shoes scrape the pavement, and he caught sight of her. He pointed, and the woman saw the zombie, and ran back through the doorway. The first man was pulling his gun out from his belt.  
Victor's urge to feed could not take it anymore, and his body pushed forward, into the fire, and past it. Pant leg caught fire, but this did not bother Victor. He simply went on, and tackled the second man onto the ground.  
The man screamed as Victor bit into his neck, and soon the scream died out. He heard the sound of the female zombie attacking the other man, and both of them falling onto the concrete. There was a slight struggle before the man died.  
Now they were both eating, and Victor felt the female's eyes on him before they turned back to the meal under her.  
Then the woman came once more out of the doorway, this time holding a gun shakily in her hands. She pulled the trigger, and dark blood spilled out onto the dark ground.

Nick threw the garbage can at the window. It smashed through and landed on the other side, knocking a chair over in the process. He climbed into the restaurant.  
It wasn't the nicest place, a little dirty. Nick couldn't figure out how it had stayed in business; it was overshadowed by a much bigger and cleaner place only two fronts down. He shrugged.  
The only reason he was here was to try and find a weapon. The stick had gone out soon after he got into the city. Nick was not so scared, with the _things_ so far behind him. He knew there would be some here. That might explain the lack of late night activity throughout the city. No lights.  
He vaulted over the counter, and squatted to check underneath. Nothing but a bunch of papers and a small box here. Nick stood and scanned the various surfaces. He spotted a ladle, and picked it up. He swung it around a bit, and acted out fighting a zombie. _Not enough weight_ Nick, disappointed, set the ladle down.  
As he scanned again, he saw something that made his heart lighten. A fire axe was hanging in a little indent in the wall. He walked over and removed it from its hooks. This time, when he acted out the fight, he killed the imaginary zombie with a chop to the head. Nick laughed out loud. This was good.  
Something grabbed his shoulder and Nick stopped laughing.

Damen pulled away from the zombie and kicked. He sent his attacker sprawling. Only, when the zombie hit the ground, it said "Oof!". Damen wasn't completely sure, but he didn't think zombies said things like "Oof!". Only then did Damen notice that his attacker was not a zombie at all, but a kid. A living, breathing kid.  
"What are you doing?" The kid rubbed his stomach where Damen had kicked him.  
"Oh, sorry about that. I thought you were a member of the walking dead." Damen bent over to help him up.  
The kid looked into his eyes with a blank expression. It was enough to make Damen cringe. This kid had something about him…an aura. An aura of anger.  
He suddenly smiled. "No problem. I would have done the same."  
Damen smiled too. "Still, I'm sorry. I guess we're all pretty jumpy right now. This stuff is crazy."  
The kids smile faded. He looked down. "Yes. The demons stole my grandfather's life. My mission is to slay the thieves."  
"Well, my mission is just to get out of this damned city. There's no hope of survival here. I'm going out to Leenman island. I heard on the radio that it's the safest place to go." Damen shifted the weight of the sack to his right side.  
The kid thought this over for a minute. Then he spoke up, "I think I'll travel with you. I realize that I cannot complete my mission on my own, but I would like to live and see the destruction of these creatures. We can go to the island and watch as the military wipes them out"  
Damen could use a partner to help him get to the island safely. "Alright, you can come along. I just want to shoot straight for the island, no detours."  
The kid nodded, smiling again. "My name is Amaterasu. And yours?"  
"Damen."  
They shook hands and soon set off.

Brad was dead. That was the second thing Jessica noticed when she came down a back hallway in the theatre. The first was that a zombie was feeding on Brad's head. The first thing alluded to the fact that the second was true.  
The zombie's head snapped up and it glared at Jessica. She glared back and pulled out a gun. She fired two shots right into both of the undead's eyes. It slumped over next to Jessica's deceased comrade.  
She dropped down to one knee and inspected Brad's face. It was a bloody mess.  
Jessica silently cursed herself. _I should have been here. I shouldn't have let us separate in the first place._  
She arose from her mental anguish when she heard the sound of boots thumping down the hallway towards her. Her instinct told her to hide, so she ran over and through a door. She was in a storage room.  
The feeling of guilt overwhelmed her, and she sat with her back up against the door. She didn't cry; nothing could make her do that anymore. She only continued to curse herself for allowing a man to die like that.  
But his military training should have prevented that. She thought about what could have happened. Maybe he was ambushed? Caught unawares. Yes, that was probably it.  
The door rocked with the force of a blow on the other side. Jessica didn't open it, only waited for more. She waited a few minutes. But there was no more.  
She got up and turned the knob. There was no one on the other side. Maybe the zombie had lost interest with my faint smell.  
_Or maybe it was a survivor._

Mick lay on the cold, hard ground. He was not dead. But the blow he took from the man in the shop had paralyzed him. Of course Mick, being a zombie, could not understand at all why his arms would not move to lift his body up when his brain commanded them to.  
Mick tried for hours to move an inch of his muscles, but to no avail. So he lay on the ground and did nothing. Like he should be doing anyway, but instead of being on top of the ground, he should be several feet under it, nice and cozy in his coffin.  
The door to the shop opened, and out stepped the man who had attacked and thrown him earlier, carrying a few guns. He looked down at Mick, and Mick looked up at him.  
The man moved closer, pulled out a handgun, and shot Mick in the temple. The zombie filmmaker saw no more. He was as he should have been.

Liam had found a small, old radio in the back of the shop. Its batteries still had juice left in them, fortunately, and he flipped through the stations. Many of them were spewing out warnings regarding the zombies. Then he found the one he was looking for.  
It was providing information about Modre. He listened closely as it told him that the city had been completely overrun, and any survivors should head immediately to Leenman Island, which had been converted into a huge refuge. It was blocked off to the zombies, and it housed most of the army forces.  
Sounded to Liam like the best option. He was certain that he could hold out in this place for a very long time, but he knew that if the city was going to be bombed to take out all of the zombies at once, he did not want to be here when it happened.  
Liam gathered a few small snacks, threw them into a plastic bag, checked his gun, and walked out the door.  
There was the zombie he had killed, laying on the pavement. But the zombie was visibly alive. Its eyes were moving frantically, but the rest of its body was not. Liam must have struck something to paralyze the beast.  
But he did not pity it, did not leave it to bite the ankles of other humans. He pulled out his gun, walked closer, and shot it in the temple. This time, he knew the thing was dead.  
Liam stepped over the corpse of the walking corpse, tugged his bandanna up, and set off towards the bay.

Amaterasu walked with Damen down the streets. There was an air of unpleasant silence. So he decided to ask a question.  
"Where were you when the outbreak began, if I may ask?"  
Damen took a sidelong glance at him. "I was working." He spoke slowly, "On a job for the military. But then they told me my family was dead. So I responded, and these are the exact words, "F*** the hell off!". They weren't pleased, but I was done with them. I left and came here, to look at some guns and forget. But then this city was attacked…"  
Amaterasu was surprised at Damen's words. _His family was killed by the demons_ thought Amaterasu, _Just as my grandfather was._  
"Then we shall avenge the death of loved ones together." Amaterasu's fists were clenched tight.  
Damen nodded. "I guess so."  
They both heard the gunshots at the same time, and both realized at the same time that danger awaited them before salvation and revenge.

Jackson's boots thumped on the linoleum as he, followed by Jeff, crept through the entryway of the theatre. They had found the theatre, and decided mutually that it seemed like a good place to stock up on food and drinks.  
They peered through the glass of the secondary doors. Jeff swallowed hard. There were multiple zombies tumbling about in the main lobby. They weren't very coordinated, falling into each other, and some were already on the floor, struggling to get up.  
Jackson chuckled. _These are the terrible monsters we face? Mindless drones that can't even stay on their feet?_.  
Jeff must have seen his amusement, because he turned sharply and said, "This isn't a game. These things can and will rip your heart out and eat it at the slightest opportunity."  
Jackson waved his hands in front of him. "Watch the hostility. The falling on the floor routine just struck me as humorous."  
"Yeah, well, this is real life. Serious, and deadly, stuff."  
Jackson rolled his eyes and turned them back onto the scene in the lobby.  
"Okay, let's go. We can take the slugs. Wooh!" Jackson let out a battle cry and charged through the doors. He left Jeff unable to respond, and a second later the young man came stumbling after him.

Jeff knew that this was definitely a bad idea. _Does he want to get us killed or bitten._  
Jackson was already firing wildly into the crowd of zombies with his shotgun, wasting more shells than he should have been. He only got two headshots out of 8 initial shots.  
The zombies were coming toward them now, oblivious to the fact that these humans carried guns. And a sword.  
Jeff brought out his katana, calmly stepping to meet the oncoming undead. Jackson was still plugging away, but he had realized the error of his firing; he now aimed for the heads. He took down a good ten more before Jeff reached the zombies.  
The expert swordsman sliced through the first one's cranium, and stabbed the second through the eye and into its brain. He twisted the blade with sickening efficiency, effectively downing the zombie for good. He cut through two other in the same manner, going for the head. Soon Jeff's efforts, combined with the mad shotgun-ing of Jackson, had brought down the entire group.  
The two men looked at each other, and smirked. It was a job well done. Jackson ran over to the concession. Jeff followed.  
There was the sound of a gunshot, far off in the back of the theatre. Jackson looked at him, and they started jogging away to see where the shot had come from. They soon found the body of the soldier, along with that of a zombie.  
Jackson thought he heard a sound coming from behind a door off to the left. Jeff tried the door, but it was locked. Jackson tried ramming it with his shoulder, but it held fast.  
"I guess we can't get in." Jeff shrugged.  
Jackson shrugged as well. "Whatever. C'mon, we should get out of here and continue to the island."  
Jeff nodded his agreement, and the two took off down the hallway. A minute later, the door opened to reveal a young woman. But the men were long gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick spun on his toes and tried to slam the axe into the attacker's hip. The zombie wouldn't be killed by the blow, but it was an action fuelled by surprise and fear.  
The zombie's other hand shot out and caught the axe just below the blade. Nick was stopped mid-motion, causing him to trip over his own legs and fall to the floor. He winced and looked up into the scraggly face of a human, not a zombie.  
The man was huge, both muscular and tall. He had a wild beard that hid his expression well. His eyes were wide, and his breathing was heavy.  
"Hey, there, little man. You shouldn't be swinging axes at people." Nick didn't question his being called little; this bear of a man was almost twice his size. He kept his mouth shut.  
The man stared down at him with those wide eyes. "Did I scare you? I don't want to be doing that, especially in these scary times. Here." He reached down and hauled Nick up by the arm.  
Nick still didn't say anything. He couldn't tell if it was his fear stopping him, or something about this man that he didn't want to talk to.  
"Cat got your tongue?" The man lightly pushed Nick's shoulder. "Or are you still in shock?"  
Nick shook his head no. "I just...I, uh, I was surprised to find someone, that's all. I thought something was wrong and everybody had evacuated or something."  
The man nodded with understanding. "Yeah, except nobody got evacuated. All of them are dead." He said it without blinking.  
Nick gulped. "And so, why-err, how did they all die?"  
The man's face didn't change, but Nick thought he was probably grinning under his beard. "The zombies. Ate them all up. All except me, and you."  
Hearing the man use the word "zombies" relieved and stunned Nick. His assumption that there were zombies walking around was now confirmed. What stunned him was that his assumption about _zombies walking around_ had been confirmed.  
The man stepped back on his heel, looked to his right, and rocked back, aiming his fist at Nick. It was so sudden that Nick didn't have time to move, or even think about what was happening. The fist collided with Nick's head, sending him sprawling onto the linoleum.  
Nick was out cold. He didn't feel himself being picked up. He didn't feel himself being dropped into a cold room, nor did he see the door close. He didn't hear a key turn.

There was a bullet hole in Victor's chest, but he felt no pain as he lunged at the woman holding the gun. She was not quick enough in turning to run, and he grabbed her, biting her shoulder. She screamed and fell under the weight of his body.  
The woman was not able to scream for much longer, as Victor ripped out her throat with haste. He fed for the second time this night.  
The female zombie, the one that had "aided" him in the assault on the two men before, crawled over to him. She knocked him over, and lowered her head to ingest some of the fresh meat.  
"Graaahgh!" Victor roared at her. He wasn't sure why he didn't feel like sharing his food. But then again, he wasn't exactly sure that he wasn't sure. His mind was clouded and cluttered and without any semblance of order whatsoever.  
Victor clawed at her shoulder, tearing away some of the dead skin. She bared here teeth at him, and swiped in the direction of his face. The momentum carried her over, and she fell over.  
If Victor had still been human, he probably would have laughed. But all that escaped his lips was "Eeargh" as he crawled over to the female zombie. She was still baring her teeth, her cracked lips and chin caked with blood.  
But Victor did not attack again. He simply looked at her with a quizzing expression, as though he was wondering why she was angry. He hit his hand on the hard ground.

Sarah let her face settle. She didn't know why, but her anger was suddenly gone. She stared into the eyes of the male zombie kneeling a few feet away from her.  
He now seemed harmless, almost docile.  
The two undead stared at each other for a long time, neither of them moving a muscle, both sets of glazed eyes unblinking.  
Sarah's nose perked up. She had caught a scent wafting down from the end of the block. It was a scent of food. She lifted herself from the ground, gained balance on her decomposing legs, and started off to find the source of the smell.  
The male zombie lifted itself up as well, and soon shuffled after her, its sneakers scuffing on the asphalt. She didn't care. All she wanted was to eat. Just to _eat and eat and eat_.

Damen lined up his shot, the Riot Gun in hand. He inhaled and pulled the trigger. The fat zombie's head blew off in an instant, a fountain of red spurting up before the large body tumbled off of the balcony. He winced as it hit the ground a story below, not enough to squash it like a pancake, but enough to make you glad that the thing was already dead.  
"Impressive aim." Amaterasu pointed to the gun in Damen's hand. "I didn't think you'd actually get it. That one has nice long range for a shotgun."  
Damen smirked and patted his smoking friend. "She's just so hot!" He said, using a fake southern accent. "Looks like a club but shoots like a rifle!"  
Amaterasu raised an eyebrow. Damen didn't blame him. As if to cover up his crazy talk, he blurted "I think this whole thing is just driving people insane. Zombies, I mean, why **wouldn't** your brain go nutty?"  
The young man standing beside him nodded. "I don't expect anyone to come out of this and not go straight into a padded room. The magnitude of this event will hit the survivors sooner or later. You might as well bring down a few more of those demons before your arms are bound by a jacket."  
Damen laughed. But when he looked back at Amaterasu, he could see that his words had been said seriously.  
"So who are you anyway? What's your story?" Damen slid the gun back into its sack and shouldered it once more.  
Amaterasu didn't say anything for a minute. Then, "Why do the demons feed on the living? They have nothing to gain. You can't say that their survival depends on it, as they are still just rotting corpses. So why do they insist on eating everything within reach? And why are these things able to walk and eat in the first place?"  
Damen shook his head. "I don't know. Could be some government deal. Like, an experiment gone wrong or something. Maybe some alien junk or something like that. It just seems s-"  
A man burst through the front picture window of a sandwich restaurant next to Damen and grappled onto his neck. The two bodies fell, and Amaterasu stumbled backwards. Damen pried the dead fingers off of his body and twisted them. They snapped, and yet the zombie continued to snap its yellowed teeth in his face. He punched the zombie in the jaw, knocking the living cadaver away from him.  
Amaterasu cocked his pistol and just as the zombie gathered itself onto its weak knees, blasted it in the ear with a single bullet, bringing it down for good.  
Damen got up and wiped the tissue from his vest. He was about to compliment Amaterasu when the man whirled and turned the gun onto him.  
"What are you..." His voice trailed off as he glanced down and noticed the bite mark on his sleeve.

"This could be a problem." Jeff stated as he observed the scene in front of him.  
It was a barricade. Or, at least, it used to be a barricade. Now it was a charred and smouldering mess of humvees and barbed wire. It had been a military roadblock, before whatever problem came along and blew it all up. Jeff was pretty sure that problem went by the name of "zombies".  
Jackson coughed. "Understatement of the year, dude. The slugs couldn't have done this, right? I mean, they couldn't have caused an explosion, right?"  
"Well, all it would have taken to set off these jeeps packed so close together would be a stray shot or a last-ditch effort to wipe out the siege of undead." Jeff reasoned out other humans doing this. Why would someone want to take out a military set-up?  
"Yeah, I guess." Jackson kicked a section of scrap with his boot. He thought it might have been a car door before it was caught in the explosion.  
"So how are we going to get across?" Jeff asked aloud.  
"It's called jumping, my friend. Oh, and not getting burned on the way over, that's essential."  
Both men heard the sound at the same time. It was of scraping metal. Something was moving amidst the wreckage.  
Jeff unsheathed his katana slowly, drawing it out and catching the sun's light. Jackson pulled his pistol out of his belt, and spat upon the ground.  
Jeff took a step forward and fell, landing flat on his face. There were two mottled grey hands gripping his ankles. Those hands were attached to a rather ugly zombie; it was wearing a tie-dye shirt and had a deep gash across the length of its scalp.  
Jackson quickly fired two shots, both of them going wild and hitting the zombie's arm and shoulder. Jeff flipped over as the undead beast pulled itself on top of him, going for a fatal bite. The teen clenched his sword in a fist and brought it down parallel to the previous gash on the thing's head. The blade wedged into the zombie's skull, splitting the brain and laying the corpse to rest.  
Jackson walked over, put his pistol away, and helped the younger man to his feet.  
"Sorry about that. I guess something must have gotten in my eye." Jackson became flustered. "Good thing you had your crazy asian sword skills or whatever."  
Jeff shrugged and slid his precious sword back into its home. "Not a problem. It just started me, that's all."  
A moan rang out through the metallic ruins, and Jeff felt a chill run up his spine.  
"Looks like we got more slimies to deal with here. Let's clean it up and go." Jackson's mouth formed into wide grin as a camouflage-clad zombie peered out from behind a charred truck.  
Jeff moaned back mockingly at the bewildered undead.

"Don't come any closer!" The elderly woman screamed at Liam from behind the gate. "I swear I'll shoot you if you come any closer!"  
"It's okay, it's alright. I didn't mean to frighten you. I'll be burritos." Liam turned away from the roll-down front gate of the sporting goods store. He had figured that he could grab some supplies from this place on his way to the island, but the woman had opened the door from inside and started threatening him…  
"Danny?" Liam heard the woman whisper, just enough for him to hear. "Danny, what happened?"  
_What? Is this person insane?_ Liam looked over his shoulder. There was a figure approaching the old woman from further inside the store. The figure growled, and before Liam could warn her, the woman was thrust up against the gate by the zombie.  
"Ahh! Danny, what-Help me!" The woman shouted as the zombie bit into her flesh.  
Liam considered not wasting any time or bullets for a moment, but then gave in to his own conscience. He pulled out his revolver and fired a few shots, the bullets finding their marks in both heads behind the gate. He felt nothing for the woman. After all, she had yelled at him, told him to go away. But the least he could do was stop her pain. He was still human.  
_Are the living dead still considered human? We make them out to be so unlike us, so bestial and estranged, but really, they're just us. Us when our hearts stop beating._

Jessica was a little bit lost at this point. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to save others, or just save herself. She was almost convinced that there were few to no survivors left in the city.  
_Is my duty more important to me than my own life?_ She asked herself the same question repeatedly. It was tough. On one hand, she came here seeking to help rescue anyone left in the besieged landscape of Morde. On the other hand, she was pretty positive that her ride might not be returning to pick get her out of here.  
And there were zombies walking around. With that thought, she made up her mind. She would head to Leenman Island herself. She could still assist others on the way, but she knew that her life was worth living.  
There was also something she wanted to know. _Why exactly are there zombies in the first place?_ It was a question worth a true answer. And if she had to beat it out of someone, she would. Her superiors might know, but she had no way of contacting them.  
So when she got to the island, she would find someone who can give her information. She wanted to know why all of this was happening, why innocent people had to die by the hands of those they once loved.  
It was time to move. Jessica got up from the rusting bench she had been sitting on and looked to the horizon as the sun sank below it and night engulfed her. She would reach the island, and she would tell everyone why this had happened to them. The people responsible had better watch out.  
_Jessica Stryker is coming._


	6. Chapter 6

Sarah lost the scent. She growled. Something else had interrupted the trail abruptly, something that was clogging up her nose and ruining her sense of smell.  
She could almost taste this thing entering her nostrils, it was so potent in the air around her. In fact…Sarah noticed that the air around her had shifted somehow; it was almost tainted by the smell. Penetrated by it.  
She almost concluded this thought when the male zombie bumped into her. He had been following her for the food she smelled, but she could see now that he too was baffled by what he smelled and the air around him.  
Sarah's ears perked up as she heard a sound. It was the sound of someone coughing. _It was meat coughing_. She drooled from the side of her mouth and tripped over her legs as she bumbled off in pursuit of the noise-making food.  
Her failing body was suddenly overtaken by a wave of heat. Sarah did not know what this sensation could be; if she had not been dead, she surely would have been sweating. The male zombie behind her must have felt this strange phenomenon as well, for he let out a small "Mrraw?" and spun on his feet.  
Victor snorted as he found his sense of smell to be completely useless. This pungent odour, though. That he could smell. That was _all_ he could smell.  
[/i]Hunger, hungry…eat, food, meat, food, e-hungry…no….where food, no eat, where food?[/i]  
Victor and Sarah stood swaying in the warm glow of a building on fire. Smoke was rising steadily through the evening air. There were screams coming from inside; from the open windows, faces in the midst of open flame. To the two zombies standing nearby, these faces were only the gateway to their next meal.  
Victor scanned his surroundings to find any of his own kind in much the same state as he, entranced by the growing inferno. Soon the fire may engulf them, too, but for now they were rooted to the pavement, helpless in the thrall of this magical, great thing.  
More screaming. Somewhere in the back of her head, Sarah heard a voice that said "Could you please shut up, I'm trying to watch."  
She ignored it, in true zombie fashion, and gazed unblinking into the blaze.

"You can't…possibly…" Damen started, feeling very cold inside. Amaterasu did not flinch, he did not move an inch, but only continued to point the gun at Damen's head and stare into his eyes.  
Damen looked down at his arm, where the sleeve was torn and bloody. He couldn't feel any pain.  
_Maybe the undead bites carry some sort of natural numbing agent._ He thought, _Except, they are only dead bodies that walk around…_  
Ameterasu put one foot forward and fired a single bullet. Damen's eyes went wide, and he fell to the ground. He reached up to touch his head. He felt his hair matted to his scalp with blood, and he wondered briefly why he was still alive before slipping into the darkness.  
"I'm sorry." Whispered Amterasu as he holstered his weapon. " We may have been friends if not for this madness."  
Amaterasu pulled out his pocket knife and ran his finger over the blade for a moment. He put it back into his pocket, pushed his sunglasses up on his nose, and noticed something. There was a trail of smoke rising from a few blocks over. It was tarnishing an otherwise clear sky.  
Amaterasu frowned at the thought that the city had another problem in random fires. _What next, a tornado and country music?_  
He knew that he could not leave possible survivors to their fates in the fire. He knew he would have to assist in any way possible. He also tried to convince himself that a zombie unknowingly turned on a stove and the abandoned building went up, but even so, he could not come up with a reason why he should not go and at least check.  
Amaterasu kicked a stone and, shaking his head, took off running towards the source of the smoke.  
A few minutes passed.  
Damen opened his eyes and coughed. The pain in his head was unbearable.  
_So this is what it feels like to be shot. No wonder it's generally disliked._

Bear squatted next to Nick's limp form and decided he would beat the young man with a pan until candy spilled out. Unfortunately for Bear, Nick chose that exact moment to give up feigning unconsciousness and reach up to break the large man's nose.  
Bear squealed in agony and held the shattered body part while Nick continued his assault on the huge fellow, kicking him in the ribs until Bear fell over and coughed up blood.  
Nick did not know why he needed this, but he did know that he would never be blindsided again, by anyone. "Never" muttered Nick through his gritted teeth.  
Three minutes later he was done, and Bear, it seemed, was either finished or closing in. Nick grabbed the axe that leaned against a counter, and wiped his brow.  
_If I ever get home, I want a bath. Maiming psychopaths gets you sweating._  
Nick hopped through the broken window in the front of the restaurant and looked around. The street was desolate; not a hint of life could be seen. There was one overturned and wrecked car for decoration.  
There was also a thin trail of black smoke rising steadily through the air a few blocks away. Nick studied this for a moment before a wailing shriek pierced the silence. He wondered if someone was in trouble.  
_You know, it would be cool to be a hero for once._ Nick smiled. _I may not be super, but I am average. I think average could rescue someone in this mess._

Liam fought the nagging urge to slay every wild-eyed undead he came across as he gripped his revolver tightly. He knew that there was no use in wasting bullets on non-threats, but he felt that each and every zombie moan was a personal insult. Liam rationalized that if he smelled like a nice dinner to them, then they shouldn't get to eat any longer.  
But he kept a cool head as always, and continued on towards the bay and salvation. Unfortunately, he was not entirely sure that they way he was headed led to such salvation. He was not so sure of anything anymore. This was an entirely new experience for Liam, facing peril around every burning building…  
_What is that stench?_ Liam though this before turning into an alleyway and seeing the flames.  
The fire had engulfed most of the building, trapping many souls that were hiding within. Liam watched their mouths in the windows, forming the same words over and over.  
_Help. Fire. No. Help_  
But before Liam could recoil at the sight, there was a pounding against his back, and he pitched forward onto the concrete. He whipped his head around and stared into the mangled and bloodshot eyes of a zombified cashier.  
_Hello Carl._ Liam read the zed's nametag. _Nice day we're having. Pleasant smoke._  
The zombie lurched and toppled down onto Liam's legs as the calm man pulled out his revolver and pressed it to the shaved grey skull. The thing growled as a bullet pierced its tongue and went through its jaw.  
Then the dead brain ceased to function, and Liam sighed, more from the ashy air he was inhaling than the exertion of the brief encounter. He kicked the body off of his own, and leaped up onto his feet.  
Liam turned back to the faces framed by orange terror and cracked his knuckles.

Jeff knew his limitations. Jackson did not. This fact was exemplified by the latter's blatant disregard for his own safety.  
Jeff sliced cleanly through the calf of a zombie that has just gotten within biting range of Jackson, and quickly removed its head with his katana  
"Hey, don't mess with my rhythm, pal!" Liam yelled as he punched an incoming zombie dressed in a soldier's uniform, then smoothly dispatched it with a shot to the head. "I have everything planned out, like a football game. I know where the players are goin'!"  
Jeff chuckled and shook his head while he chopped two undead heads off in one swift motion. There was no time to chat. For some reason, this fiery yard was infested. These monsters were coming out of the woodwork.  
_Why couldn't they be vampires?_ Jeff chuckled again. _At least Dracula takes a shower every now and then._  
_Why couldn't these slugs be babes?_ Jackson frowned. _Weren't any girls taking a shower when they turned?_  
Jeff and Jackson cut and mowed down wave after wave of dusty military zombies. Finally, when it seemed to be at an end, the two men sat on the ground and caught their breath.  
"Do you think a whole platoon was attacked and bitten?" Jeff slid his fingers along the bloody blade of his sword.  
"Yes, they were all bitten at the same time. Then they formed a slug union and took an oath to defend their land of smoking ruin and ruined vehicles. A very valiant effort, but in the end they were no match for our superior living skills." Jackson nodded vigorously throughout his story.  
Jeff glared at him, but then looked skyward, as he caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was a black pillar, slowly moving upward.  
"Hey look at that." Jeff pointed.  
Jackson looked up as well. "Smoke. Fire then?"  
Jeff shrugged. "Probably. Or maybe a signal. You know, to get help."  
They both had the same thought tonic into their heads. _Someone needs help._ Although Jackson did think it with a little les enthusiasm, because he could forsee what they were about to do.  
"We should probably answer the call." Jeff got up, still looking to the smoke. "They need help one way or the other, and in this place, wouldn't we want others to do the same for us?"  
Jackson stood up next to Jeff and snorted. "I wouldn't get myself into a situation I couldn't handle in the first place."  
It was Jeff's turn to snort. "Tell that to the one who saves your hide every time you forget about a man eating creature right behind you."  
"Yeah, well…shouldn't we be getting to that fire?" Jackson still wasn't too eager, but he didn't feel any more like talking about his faults. He had gotten enough of that in school when he was a kid.  
"After you, Jackson."  
"No, I insist. I, unlike you, would prefer to keep my backside as open as possible."

Jessica burst in through the burning doorway and coughed as a wave of gray smoke hit her in the face. She had simply ignored the two zombies swaying in the glow of the raging inferno; they seemed too caught up in the light to cause any real trouble. They might pose more of a threat on the way out, though.  
_If I do get out._ Jessica swallowed her fear and plowed through another blackened door.  
She saw a woman peering out from a closet nearby and ran to it. There was a table in front of the closet door that Jessica assumed had been pulled there in an attempt to redirect the flames away from the woman's hiding place. The only thing was, the table was now on fire itself.  
The highly-trained combatant raised her leg and kicked the table with her boot, sending it flipping away. Jessica slammed the door open and looked into the scarred face of a zombie.  
She stumbled backwards, bumping into a wall. The dead woman came at her, gnashing her teeth, and just as it seemed the zombie was to embrace Jessica in a deadly hug, the soldier rolled along the wall, away from the woman, who bounced off of it and fell onto the floor.  
Ms. Stryker removed one of her pistols from her belt and placed one round into the zombie's head, terminating it. She holstered it again and hacked as more smoke entered her lungs.  
_This is dangerous, I shouldn't be in here. This isn't my job._  
Jessica once again swallowed and stepped into another room, the smoke causing her eyes to water. There were stairs here, and she proceeded up them cautiously. She heard screaming.  
An elderly man came barreling down the hallway at the top of the stairs, and Jessica caught him.  
"It's okay, it's okay, I'm going to get you out of this place, okay?"  
"No, no, no, y-you don't understand, Alice, she ate my Gordon! Oh god, she just ate him, I don't know why or why this is happening! That stupid kid lit a cigarette and then fwoosh!, it turns into hell. Please save me, I don't know if I'm alive or dead or what..." The man suddenly looked stricken and bolted back down the hallway, disappearing from Jessica's view.  
"Wait, sir, I'm here to help! I can get you out of here! WAIT!" Jessica chased after him, coughing as more smoke filled her lungs. She didn't know how much more of this stuff she could intake.  
Then a piece of the ceiling collapsed, and the floor under Jessica shook and collapsed as well. She let out her first yelp of surprise since she was a little girl.  
Everything around her slowed, and she recalled everything she had ever done in her relatively short life. It brought tears to her eyes, of joy and happiness.  
Then she was falling through a fire pit again, and gravity pulled her to the hard floor, until-  
"Oof!" Nick yelled as a woman plunged down and landed on top of him.  
Jessica's head was spinning. She did not know where she was, and she turned her head to look directly into the face of a young man.  
"Who are you?" Nick asked her.  
"Jessica. I'm-I'm Deputy Minister of Defense with the military, and I think my leg is broken."  
_She has a nice face._ Nick smiled out of the corner of his mouth.  
"Can you help me up?" Jessica rolled off of him.  
"No problem. Average Nick Long to the rescue." Nick muttered.  
"What?"  
"Nothing."


	7. Chapter 7

Nick hefted up and supported her with his left shoulder. The front was blocked off, totally caved in. He now silently cursed himself for messing around and thinking he could do some good here.  
"I think I saw a fire escape on this building!" Jessica yelled to Nick over the roar of the flames, wincing as she put some weight on her leg.  
"How are we gonna' get to it though? I can't see anything but smoke!" Nick covered his face after the reminder of the toxins in the air around him.  
"Just keep moving, and leave the despair to a professional!" Jessica dodged a lick of flame as it made for her arm.  
The two climbed over a collapsed wall and made for the door at the end of the hall. Jessica reached it first, but when she grabbed the knob, it was scorching hot.  
"Aoww!" Yelled Jessica, waving her hand around in an attempt to cool it off. "I don't think we want what the other side of this door has to offer."  
"Well, what do we do? We can't stay here!" Nick kicked the door and winced as his toe cussed him out with pain.  
"HEY! What are you two doing? This place is going up completely any minute now! Let's go!" Nick and Jessica turned to see a man wearing a red bandanna gesturing to follow.  
Liam shook his head at the dazed couple. _These guys are like the newbies in the Forces. They freeze up even in hot places like this._  
As Nick and Jessica jogged back, retracing their path, Liam headed towards a small connecting hall he had discovered just a moment ago. If not for it, they would be totally stuck.  
The three ashy beings reached the next staircase, and started to climb it, Liam at the lead taking the steps two at a time. Jessica felt bad about the bearer of her weight as she noticed his forehead glistening with perspiration, partly because of the heat, and partly because of the strain.  
"The firemen are here! They're here!" Called a raspy voice from nearby, and an elderly woman appeared from around the corner at the top of the stairs. "Tom, you don't have to shout anymore, the firemen are-are here." The woman looked about ready to pass out, her excitement quickly tarnished by the inhalation of the dreaded fumes surrounding her.  
Liam caught her as she slipped, grabbing onto her arm. His hand suddenly felt slightly wet, and when he removed it, he realized that it was covered in blood. There was a bite wound on the woman's arm. Then he heard a guttural moan.  
Nick and Jessica finally reached the top of the stairs, only to be shoved back as an obese zombie hurled itself at Liam. The two, living and dead, fell to the floor, and Liam just barely managed to keep the zombie from taking a chunk out of his neck.  
He grabbed hold of the undead man's head, and with a calculated twist, snapped its neck. But the enraged corpse did not stop. It could not control its head at all, but the teeth of the beast continued to gnash together, and its eyes frantically pointed towards the potential meal, trying to will its jaws forward.  
Liam rolled and slammed the zombie into the wall beside them, shaking loose a flaming plank from above, which fell and ignited the zombie's jacket. He quickly scrambled up, and, before the zed could react, fired two shots into its skull, ending the threat permanently.  
Liam looked around for his companions, but they were nowhere in sight. He was confused momentarily, until Nick poked his head out from around the next bend.  
"We think we've found a way out." He shouted down the corridor. Liam nodded and ran to catch up. He passed the body of the unconscious woman, still lying on the floor where she dropped.  
Jessica noticed that Liam had not brought the woman along. "What about that old lady?"  
"Bitten." Liam muttered, and that was all Jessica needed to hear.  
Nick went up to the window nearest them and tried to push it open.  
"Locked." Nick muttered, and that was not what Jessica needed to hear.

Jackson covered his head as he crashed in through the window from atop a nicely placed dumpster. He ducked and rolled cleanly into a cabinet.  
He unfurled, his eyes shut tightly. "That hurt".  
Jeff landed much better right beside him. "Not as much as it would have if that cabinet had been on fire. C'mon, get up; we're in the oven now."  
"Yeah…" Jackson stood and pulled his shotgun out from where it was strapped onto his back. "Well, um, I don't see anyone around. Maybe they're upstairs."  
"Let's go." Jeff took off from where he was standing, and he scanned the first floor, trying to find the nearest stairs. The place was like a maze. There were many hallways and doors branching off, but no stairs in sight.  
Jackson was obviously having the same thought. "This place is like a maze." He stated simply.  
Jeff stifled a chuckle. "I agree."  
The two men eventually came across a set of stairs. The wood of the railing was peeling as the flames engulfed it. Jeff made a note to keep his hands at his sides.  
As they climbed the steps, Jeff noticed that Jackson wore a very unusual expression. It was not his normal bemused face that the young man saw, but the face of a suddenly very pained man.  
Jackson turned to look at Jeff, and he slowed to a halt on the landing. "What if I died here?" He asked, no longer staring directly at any physical thing.  
Jeff was already half way up the second flight. "You will die here if you don't move, pal."  
Jackson ignored the comment. "If I died here, in this hell….what have I done? What have I been, what has my little time in this place amounted to? Killing? Is that it, just ending other stuff's ride?"  
Jeff now understood. It may have been the wrong place for it to happen, but the adventure on the edge had caught up to the guy. "You know, I had a girlfriend. Maybe I even have one. I don't know. I had almost forgotten…"  
Jackson came back from his own mind and squinted through the waves of heat at his companion. "That's good, kid. Good to have someone. It must be pretty hard not knowing where she is now. I've never had a person like that, myself. And it's looking like I might never get the chance if we sit around and keep chatting. Let's get some people out of here."  
As Jeff nodded, and Jackson reached him, he put a hand on the larger man's shoulder. A bolt of caring passed between them, and both inclined their heads slightly.  
"I wish we had masks." Jeff coughed.  
"It ain't Halloween." Jackson beat his chest and coughed twice.

"Why am I?" Sarah queried.  
"Why are you…what?" Victor queried in response.  
"Why am I here?"  
"There are many answers to that question."  
Sarah gazed into the white mist behind her eyes and could make out a lean figure dressed in camouflage.  
"Am I dead?" She queried.  
"Of course. Don't you remember?" Victor answered.  
"But I am still walking. At least, I think I am. Right?"  
"Yes. I am also dead and walking. It is very common these days."  
Sarah pondered her state for a few minutes.  
"Weren't we standing by a fire just now? How did we get here?"  
"I have been here since the time of my passing. I only needed to invite you within the realm of your own condition. So far you are the only one like me, with the ability to go back beyond your own death and collect your past." Victor wavered in the mist.  
"So what is your reason for coming here?" Sarah lost sight of the other in the mist, but soon found him.  
"I don't choose. It just happens. My ultimate goal is to find some way to bring this place to the foreground of my dying brain, and from there find a way out of this situation as a whole."  
"You mean, walking around as a corpse?"  
"Precisely."  
"I'm not sure that'll be possible at this point."  
"Maybe for the bitten ones out there, but not for us. We are different from our children. I believe that we are the initial product of an experiment. Those who experimented did not know what could, and would, happen if we were ever to be released. But we were released. Whether through an accident or an intention, we were released and set upon humanity. And this is the fruit of our primal labours."  
"So you're trying to find a way to end the threat to humanity that the experiment has posed?"  
"Exactly. The only problem is that I have absolutely no clues, no lead, and no control over my corporeal form."  
"So how do we gain control and get a lead?"  
Victor disappeared with no warning, and Sarah frantically scanned the mist for his outline.  
A voice perforated the mist, as it all faded away.  
"We communicate. Or we die and stay dead."  
Sarah acknowledged his last words with a subtle "Gragh".

Amaterasu crept up behind the lady zombie and brought out his pistol silently. It was too risky and difficult to attempt a stealthy knife kill on a zombie. The gunshots might attract unwanted attention, but at least it would be done with quickly.  
He had the muzzle nearly pressed against her undead head when she suddenly turned around, growled menacingly, and batted his gun away. He made to point at her skull again, but she lunged at him, sending the gun click-clacking away from him. She tried to bite Amaterasu's nose, but he held her by the neck, unwilling to let her in that close.  
_She was just standing there staring into space a minute ago, how did she notice me so fast?_ He struggled to maintain his hold on the zombie. She was a feisty and strong one, more so than most others he'd faced.  
Amaterasu risked a glance over at the other zombie, who was still in his trance, staring into and seemingly through the burning complex in front of him. There was certainly something unsettling about a creature like that having the appearance of a thinking being.  
He winced as the loud bang of two gunshots rang out and surprised him. They came from the blind spot behind him, and he couldn't chance a moment of weakness to see who it was.  
For some reason the one atop him had stopped her aggressive assault as violently as she had started. Amaterasu suddenly notice two smoking holes; one in her shoulder and another near her left temple. Whoever it was behind him, they weren't an ace in regards to shooting. He hefted the limp body off of him, and turned to see who it was that assisted him.  
"Damen." Amaterasu's eyes opened wide at the sight of the man he thought dead.  
"You do need me around after all, see? You need me to s-save you when you lose your gun." Damen looked unsteady on his feet. "I'm a bit dazed. Is that other one safe?" He pointed to the male zombie, who hadn't flinched or moved at all during the scuffle.  
"I think so. How are you alive, Damen?"  
"I really couldn't tell you. You did a number on me, though. I'm not sure why I haven't succumbed to the infection yet. Most people who get it turn fairly s-soon after the bite…" Damen sat down on the pavement and held his bleeding head.  
"I don't know if I can shoot you again. It was demanding enough the first time to shoot a living, breathing and innocent person. I'm going into that building, so, if you want to spend your last minutes resting, I can understand. When you present a problem, I'll stop you. I wish you good luck, wherever you're going." With that, Amaterasu ran through a wall of fire and climbed through a small open window.  
Damen sat and waited. He waited for his end to come.  
"Will I meet you there?" He asked the sky. It did not answer him.  
"Will you be there to see me when I get off the train? I hope so. I'll be expecting both of you."

Amaterasu pulled out his dagger and charged up the stairs. He had forgotten his gun back with Damen in his haste. Big mistake. He ran straight into the long-nailed fingers of an elderly dead woman. It caught him off-guard, and he back-pedaled on the last step. He lost his footing and tumbled back down, to crumple in a heap on the floor. This was not how he had planned the first few moments of his crusade to save the survivors in this place. Zombies were supposed to avoid fire, to be afraid of it, not to flock to it.  
He stood up on shaky knees as the zombie woman tumbled down the stairs after her meal. _At least they're stupid._ Amaterasu didn't have time to smile before she was right next to him, swinging her arms at his head. He swiped at her with his own weapon, cutting a deep gash but not fazing her.  
The bloodlust was radiating off of this monster, and Amaterasu was overwhelmed by the combination of smoke and pure predatory rage. He missed with his second stab, just as she boxed his stomach and knocked him into a wall.  
These things were extremely dangerous up close, and the environment wasn't helping one bit. He bit his tongue as the zombie head butted him unintentionally. She must have been recently turned; there were no weak or decomposing points to exploit.  
Her teeth grazed his cheek as she tried desperately to bite into his flesh. The only thing keeping her from this was Amaterasu holding his dagger against her collarbone. He himself was trying to get some angle of advantage where he could drive his blade up into her brain through her jaw. He didn't even know if it was long enough to get that far.  
Amaterasu flinched as a gunshot rang out unexpectedly. A bullet blew through the zombie's forehead and into the wall near his own. Her body convulsed and gave in, collapsing in Amaterasu's embrace. He shrugged her off onto the floor and looked up to find a very pale Damen holding his pistol.  
"Good to see you're still around to save me when I lose my gun." Amaterasu grinned.  
A droplet of blood fell from Damen's nose. He reached up to touch it, and in that moment, he changed. Now he stood with a set of hungry eyes staring back into Amaterasu's.  
"No.:." Amaterasu whispered.  
Damen's erupting howl was cut short when the ceiling collapsed. The living person in the room shielded his face with his arms as pieces of fiery debris rained down upon the startled two. Damen the zombie was lost in the splintering wood, and howled again, this time in confusion.  
Amaterasu was thrown back against the wall as a fireball exploded down into the room through the gaping hole in the ceiling. It filled the area with a bright light, one that told all who watched that it had just claimed a victim. He peeked through his arms and saw no trace of his deceased friend. Despair filled his soul as the ball burned out, and left only charred remains of the wood. The fire raged on all around him still, as if nothing had taken place to interrupt the flow of events. Amaterasu sank to his knees as he cursed the world.  
_If I ever get out of here, I will finish what I have started. I will avenge my grandfather, and I will avenge you, and when I die, I must know that I have done all I can to rid the universe of this wretched filth that would dare to take anyone from me._  
Amaterasu punched the ground with his sore fist, cutting open two of his knuckles on bits of scattered glass. A wound for the day, as he had no other. It would serve as another reminder of his mission.  
Amaterasu stood again and made his way back to the stairs. He knew he still had work to do here, if there was anyone left. But he knew that he mustn't die here. Not before he could keep his promises.

"Are you alive?" The voice asked.  
"No, but…yes." She answered.  
"I see. We best be off. We have no business in these open streets."  
"Lead the way."


	8. Chapter 8

Victor was as complicated as he had ever been. It's difficult to be crazy and dead and hungry and smart and dumb and too sane all at the same time, but he was a good multi-tasker.  
He was shambling along a deserted alley with a beautiful girl at his side, he knew what his purpose was; he was actually pretty content. The irony ate away at his mind by way of small nibbles and large chomps. Speaking of eating, the belly of his curse was aching again…  
Sarah was also hungry. Her head was clouded by doubt and decisions; the animosity between the bullet and the brain next to it was contributing somewhat to the confusion as well.  
"I wish I could talk to Victor."  
"Sure, what is it?" Victor sat cross-legged in the mist.  
She walked over and sat down next to him. "I've been thinking a little bit, about this whole mess. You and I both know there's no cure for death. We passed the point of no return a long way back, right?"  
"You're still walking around out there." Victor nodded his head in no particular direction.  
"In here is me. That, out there, that's not me anymore. I'm no zombie."  
Victor was overcome with pity for her. She was only out of so many now, but still…he felt as though her situation and his were unique. _We're more innocent than everyone else?_  
Sarah continued, "It's just, I don't know if it's really our problem anymore. We're done. We're dead now; it's our time to be done."  
Victor sighed a deep sigh and reached out to touch her, but there was nothing to feel. She was a voice in his head. He thought up a response.  
"I'm not ready to be done. Look at it this way: We've been given a chance to solve our own mystery. No matter how horrible this disease is, it's still giving us the time to find out why and how it came about in the first place. We might be the _only ones_with this opportunity. I am not going to waste it."  
"I can't tell you what to do. You have to make the decision whether you want to stay or go for yourself. Just know that if you decide not to take a hold of this moment, it'll be the end. I think you know that already. It'll come for both of us eventually, but I can say with certainty that you will not be long for this world or any other if you leave."  
Sarah brushed a lock of golden hair out of her eyes and stared at the mist swirling about the ground. She weighed the decisions slowly. Then a completely different thought occurred to her.  
"Why can we talk to each other through our brains?"  
Victor smiled a soft smile. "Because we're connected by what happened to us. And it's limited to just us, so it leads me to believe that we are more than just "living dead". The experiment was much more than a simple revivication serum."  
Sarah leaned in close and screwed her nose up against the notion. "You talked about the experiments before. From what I remember of what happened before I died and came back, I wasn't in any top secret supernatural chemical test."  
"What memories do you have?"  
"I….got really wasted a wound up in a zoo. A guard shot and killed me before I got anywhere near the shark tank."  
Victor looked on with a bemused expression. "Do you really believe any of that?"  
Sarah exhaled deeply and half-smiled. "Now that you call it out, the whole story does sound kind of bogus. I would never get so drunk that sharks sound like a good time."  
Sarah jerked suddenly and looked forward past her eyeballs. Her clumsy zombie body had just tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. "Raruuuh." She growled in protest at the rude awakening. "Uuhr."  
She couldn't quite step away and get back to the misty place again, but she managed to ask one more question before all of her cranium focused on the present.  
"Where exactly are we going?"  
Victor shot back into his own body at just about the same time.  
"We're going to find some living humans, and we're going to make damn sure we don't eat them on sight."  
Sarah tried to shrug, but her shoulders hung, unresponsive.

Jeff and Jackson came to a halt beside a closed door. They squatted to rest and escape the smoky air for a moment before moving on through.  
"How long do you think before this whole place burns to cinders?" Jackson asked, quickly entering a coughing fit.  
Jeff panted, "I really don't know. I'm surprised it even held up this long. All I can say is that chasing invisible "victims" around this furnace is going to kill both of us soon."  
Jackson's violent fit finally calmed down. "This air makes me look like a pansy."  
Jeff dismissed his trivial insecurities. "Instead of dropping and giving twenty, you should probably just shoot a big hole where that knob is and kick it down. Now would be a great time."  
Jackson smoothly slid his shotgun out and brought it close to the door. He pulled the trigger and there was a booming shot, slightly drowned out by the crackling all around them. Jackson lifted the shotgun back up and slammed his boot into the door, knocking it clean off its hinges.  
Jeff patted the other on the back. "I must say, you're not one for subtlet-", Jeff was cut short by a loud "HEY!" from inside the room they had just barged into.  
A young boy stood there leaning against a wall, not much older than 12 years, holding a cigarette and looking angry. "You can't just come in here without knocking!"  
Jackson stepped forward, stooping a bit to avoid the flames leaping out from the frame, and made to grab the kid. The boy jumped out of the way and backed into a corner of the room.  
"C'mon, kid." Jackson said. "You're our first and only rescue in this piece of crap building. It's dangerous here."  
The boy seemed to ignore the warning. His eye twitched once. "Everyone keeps saying that I shouldn't smoke because I'm too young, or because it might start a fire. But nothing's happened so far, I don't see any reason to quit. Are you guys here to try to get me to stop too? I told them guns don't scare me."  
Now Jeff stepped forward alongside Jackson, utterly bewildered by the boy's erratic and strange behavior. "Can't you see the flames growing behind us? Don't you want to get out of here before it's too late?"  
The boy came out of the corner, pushed Jeff aside, and started out into the hall. "Some people are just too afraid of lighting up that first time. Morons. It's good stuff after you get used to it."  
The two older men looked at each other, confused and taken aback. They both exited the room only to hear a "HEY!" and see the boy struggling in the grasp of a man wearing sunglasses and a jean jacket.  
The new arrival spoke up. "Is this little kid high? Walking through fire as if it's nothing?"  
Jeff walked over and grabbed the boy's other arm. "We really don't know. I think he's gone insane, got a big death wish and all that."  
"You guys don't even know what it's like, but you will. Everyone here will. Fine, don't let me go. You'll be sorry real soon." The boy had tears in his eyes, and he coughed. Blood trickled out of his mouth. "What the-." his words were cut off as he shuddered and died.  
Amaterasu was stunned by what had happened in the span of ten seconds. Jeff was still confused to the point where this all seemed a dream. Jackson proclaimed, "Aw, shit." As the boy opened his eyes again and bared his teeth.  
Jeff noticed what had happened second, and released the zombie's arm. Amaterasu did not notice at all until the undead boy lunged at him and tried to bite into the flesh of his grasping arm. Jackson lunged forward at the same time and grabbed at the kid's shirt, flinging him off of Amaterasu, and at Jeff. But the youngest of the three was prepared now, and as the flickering light around them glinted off his katana, the blade sliced through the air and decapitated the monster.  
Amaterasu grinned with relief and amazement. He had never seen a master swordsman in action. He could use the dagger he carried around, but he would have never been able to decapitate in one swift blow like that.  
He wiped a blood smear off of his sunglasses with his sleeve and walked over to the younger man. The head of the dead boy writhed and snarled on the floor, not shut down by the lack of a body.  
Jackson brought out one of his pistols and gave the thing on the floor a second death. "It's a little bit freaky how much these things can take. But put lead through their skull, and it's over like anything else."  
"Yeah, well…we'll be over too, and without any lead, if we don't move." Jeff sheathed his katana.  
"I hear that so often these days. What a life, always running to survive." Amaterasu pulled his collar up and jogged off towards another set of stairs.  
Jeff and Jackson were surprised by his sudden departure, but quickly followed. They both knew that at this point, escaping this place alive was a better option than sticking around and searching for people who might not even be there.

Nick, Jessica, and Liam were standing at a locked and barred window and wondering what to do.  
"Why the hell is this window barred?" Nick was still supporting Jessica, which kept him from kicking something repeatedly.  
"We need to keep calm and think this out. Uh, miss…did you notice if there was an access to the fire escape from the roof?" Liam asked her, trying to remember himself if he had seen it.  
"I'm not sure. It's quite possible there's one up there, or we may be able to get to it without a direct access." Jessica nodded, looking first at Liam, then at Nick.  
Nick nodded also. "That's probably our best bet. Let's get up there."  
The three turned, Liam fast-walking ahead to the next corner, while Nick half-carried Jessica past the forgotten window.  
Liam ran up to a door and opened it, looking into the main stairwell. "If we just use this, it'll be much easier. Good thing we finally came across it."  
Jessica winced as her leg dragged a bit on the floor. "Oh, wonderful. Stairs. Just what I needed."  
Nick made a wide grin at her. "We can do it." Jessica sighed. "You're right. It's better than the alternative anyways."  
Liam was already up to the next set. "C'mon, people, we don't have all day. There's no inferno here right now, but it won't stay that way. Suck it up and start climbing."  
And so they climbed. It was hard for Jessica, but with Nick helping her all the way up it was much less painful and much more efficient. When they got to the top floor, she was almost surprised at the length and difficulty of the short trek.  
Liam turned the handle and walked out onto the rooftop. It was covered in a light layer of ash, from the fire raging below. The sun was setting on the distant horizon, and Liam was enthralled by the view. The cold night air was moving in, pushing away the rising heat. He let out a rare sigh and closed his eyes for the peace of the moment.  
Nick and Jessica stepped out onto the roof, the former looking slightly exasperated, but also relieved to get out into the cool breeze.  
"Now what?" Jessica was already scanning the area for a way onto the escape. The two men joined her search. After a minute, Nick called "Over here!" From one side of the roof.  
Jessica limped awkwardly over to Nick's side and looked over the edge. Liam ran over and joined them. "Is it far down?" Liam asked just as he reached them.  
Nick gulped. "Yeah. Too far." Liam looked over the lip and saw that the first walkway was a great length away from them. It was too far to jump, and they didn't want to risk injury at this point.  
Suddenly the breeze picked up, the wind swirled around them, nearly bowling them off the edge. They scooted back away, and a light shone out of the growing darkness above onto the ground near them. All three of them looked up into the sky, and there they saw a glorious sight. It was a helicopter.  
A voice picked up over some sort of megaphone. "Hey, you three down there, you need a lift? I'm going to land. Hurry up and get on when I do."  
Nick, Jessica, and Liam backed up to let the helicopter in close. Their chests were heaving in unison, Liam's understandably duller and less excited, but even he could not wave off their good fortune.  
The chopper landed, and the three rushed forward to get inside and get out. A scrawny, pale man opened the door for them, telling them "I'm Ralph L., copter pilot, now let's get the hell out of here!"  
"Wait up there, Ralph!" A deep voice yelled over the roar of the whirring propeller. A man in a leather jacket was running towards them, shadowed by a teenager with a sword and a sunglasses-wearing guy who looked around the same age as Nick.  
As the newcomers slowed down and stopped beside the copter, Ralph looked down at them and flinched from nothing. "Got room for a few more?"  
"Hop in." Ralph said, turning back and sitting down in the pilot's seat. Jeff climbed up and sat down next to Jackson, and Amaterasu did the same, sliding the door shut tight behind him.  
Just then, there was a very loud rumble from outside, and they all fastened themselves in to prevent themselves tumbling around. Ralph turned around in his seat and looked puzzled, and Liam answered his look. "The building is falling apart! It's going up in flames! We better go!"  
Ralph flipped some switches and pulled up on something. "You don't have to tell me twice!" And they were off, up into the air, flying away. There was another loud rumble, and a huge booming explosion. All six of the passengers looked out at the building they had just barely escaped from. The bottom floors had just blown out; pieces of debris flew everywhere. Gigantic fireballs danced out from all sides of the place, and it looked like some horrendous painting done by an artist with a thirst for destruction.  
As the helicopter left the glow of the flames, Jessica shifted her bad leg into a more comfortable position, and she looked at the boy sitting next to her. His face was lit up by the final rays of light from the fire, and she thought about what he had done back in there.  
"Nick." She said, and he turned his head. "Thanks."  
Nick's mouth formed into a smile, and he basked in that single word.  
"Any time." He responded softly, but Jessica was already passed out from exhaustion. Nick glanced back at the other survivors in his company, and he wondered if they could escape such a close call again.  
_Whatever this city brings_ he thought, _Hopefully I'll be around to see the conclusion._


	9. Chapter 9

Jessica sat in a very dark room, eating a very bright apple. It was surreal, her sitting there, biting into the juicy and delicious, shining fruit. Only this fruit was not delicious, and as she pulled her lips away to spit out what she had chewed, blood spilled out of the insides of the red thing she held in her hand. It gushed over her palm, and she frowned in disgust. The metallic taste in her mouth would not subside. And there was a feral moan echoing out from the core of the apple…  
And she woke up in a cold sweat, jerking enough to feel a twinge of pain shoot up her bad leg. She did not flinch beyond that, though, as she was trained to handle even the toughest of nightmares; the ones in the field and the ones behind her fluttering eyelids. She looked over at the five men seated near her in the helicopter, and she noticed that weak moonlight was filtering into the vehicle.  
Nick was close, and she asked him over the loud hum of the propeller above "How long have I been out?"  
He opened his eyes wider, obviously caught off guard by her voice. "Uh, only about fifteen minutes. We're almost to Leenman. It'll still be a little while."  
Jessica nodded and looked out the window at the night sky. It looked fresh up here, out of the virus' path. If it had been airborne, it could have destroyed the world already. But no, the plague was rooted to the soil and the animals living on it.  
_Lucky us._

Liam was usually very careful about how often he was thrust into situations he didn't care for, but the entire ordeal really took that will away from him. He took it in stride, however; there was neither a hint of doubt nor uncertainty about his surroundings on his sturdy features. If he were ever to play poker again, his wallet would become no lighter. He could probably win a hand just by staring at one of the other players.  
His father had often told him, 'If life hands you lemons, make lemonade'. But Liam always thought that it would be better to first _want_ lemonade, and in that case get the lemons for yourself. He'd never liked what life had to offer anyways.  
There were others around him, other survivors of the outbreak in this city. Liam wondered if these people would be any asset to him and the military operation at Leenman. The woman would be fine; she was in the military herself. _The leg could be a problem, but…_  
The guy sitting next to her, he didn't look like much. _Probably useful for labor around the camp_. There were two men sitting next to him; one of them a boy, really. He was wearing a SWAT uniform, but Liam doubted he had any SWAT training. _Interesting that he carries a sword around, though._  
The other man, the one wearing all black. He looked tough, but there was no telling yet if he really knew how to use the firearms he carried. _Looks like a scrapper, definitely…_  
The last of the group, a younger man than he. Looked like he needed an attitude adjustment. Liam wondered if the Army shirt was just another prize of the outbreak, and not a token of experience. He seemed very angry. _I may have to give that guy a talking-to._  
Liam sat back. He thought about himself now. He thought about himself, and he noted that deep inside him, inside his soul and mind…he really did not care for Vans shoes.

Jeff noted how the moonlight shined and reflected off of his newly shined blade. There was nothing wrong with polishing a prize in your spare time, he assured himself. _Nothing but normal._ Jeff put his head back.  
This was a strange feeling. The thought of actually getting to salvation and civilization after all this time spent in the near-grasp of monsters…it was less than exhilarating. At Leenman, he wouldn't be able to test his sword on real opponents. At Leenman, he wouldn't be able to do it his own way. And at Leenman, he wouldn't even be able to get the answer he had been looking for during these last few days.  
Or was it weeks? Jeff had lost all sense of time. _It shouldn't be like this. I should know how long it's been. Since I've seen Lauren._  
And he shuddered. He knew she must be dead. _I never even…started looking for her. I never started looking for her._  
Jeff turned to the one person he had been with for the longest time during this. Jackson was sitting with his eyes closed. "Jackson, I never started looking for her."  
Jackson opened one eye. "Who, kid?"  
"My girlfriend, Lauren. I told you about her, right? I didn't just forget?"  
Jackson opened his other eye. "Yeah, you mentioned her in the fire. You didn't forget."  
Jeff brushed his fingers through his hair. "I know I thought about her at the beginning. But then I never started looking for her. She probably needed me, and I wasn't there. I wasn't even looking, Jackson."  
Jackson sat forward with both eyes open. "You know, the slugs want to make you forget. That's all they want, is to make you forget and think about not getting eaten. When they're biting at your neck, no one in their right mind would think about anything but getting out of there."  
Jeff nodded. "I guess you're right. But I don't know…I think I should have just tried to find her…taken a couple days and tried to make it to my house. She must have gone there."  
Jackson sat back and closed both eyes. "When you got there, you would have had to tell her why you were dead. No girl wants to date a dead guy, kid. Take that from me."  
Jeff sheathed his sword. He had been gripping the hilt tightly. He knew he wouldn't be able to get Lauren out of his mind now anyways.  
Just then, Jackson reached over and punched him in the arm. It was hard enough to send a wave of pain into his shoulder.  
"Ow! What was that?" Jeff rubbed his arm slowly.  
"It took your mind off your girl, didn't it?" Jackson smiled with his eyes still closed.  
Jeff looked at the sky and frowned. _No, Jackson. It really didn't._

Nick Long stared curiously at the back of the pilot's head as he slumped forward. _Well that can't be a good thing._  
"Hey. Hey!" Nick widened his eyes as the helicopter began to drift downwards. The others noticed it too, and 5 new pairs of eyes stared at Ralph. Amaterasu reached around the seat and checked the pilot's pulse.  
"He's dead."  
Amaterasu now jumped to the front of the copter and began undoing the pilot's straps. "I'll get him out. Someone else, fly." Liam nodded; he was the only one with any flight training.  
And Ralph L. sat up from his slump as Amaterasu undid the last strap. He took one look at the man and lunged at him. Amaterasu fell back into the co-pilot's seat, trying to push the fresh zombie off of his body. Liam reacted instantly, unbuckling himself and grabbing Ralph's jacket.  
Liam pulled and Amaterasu pushed, the two of them wrestling it back into the pilot's seat. They both released the creature at the same time. Liam whipped out his revolver, and Amaterasu pulled out his pistol. They pointed their weapons at the zombie just as it made to stand up again.  
oxets were fired and hot lead tore through Ralph's brain like a knife in cottage cheese. His hungry desires turned to pulp immediately, and the former man slumped back down into his original position. The pilot's seat _was_ his, after all.  
Both men put away their guns. This was no time to stop and take a breath. Amaterasu looked out of the windshield and realized it was too late, even as Liam tugged at the controls. They were about to crash.  
Amaterasu spun around to face those still seated. "Brace yourse-", was all that escaped his mouth before the sound of crunching metal and blades meeting pavement filled the air. The helicopter hit the ground and stopped moving almost immediately.  
There was smoke coming from somewhere. And motors were still whirring.  
Nick coughed. "Is anyone hurt?"

Victor and Sarah were almost to the shore. The trip had been uneventful. Victor knew that most of the people had already been evacuated or killed. Morde was officially a dead city.  
It was strange, Victor thought, that their bodies were willing to go this far without food. He was surprised that they were able to betray their most basic instinct and need and stay on course. _Something about myself and the girl; we're so different from our children. It's really amazing._  
Sarah's nostrils flared momentarily. Her mind looked back, back to that familiar place behind her eyes. The mist enveloped her.  
Victor stepped forward, his body casting impossible shadows through the swirling air. "What is it?"  
"I can smell the breeze coming in from the sea. It's stronger now." After all the time spent here, Sarah still could not make out Victor's full features. It was as though the mist was shrouding his identitiy intentionally. She wondered what he looked like. Or what he _had_ looked like, before his…death.  
"I'm so hungry. It's unbearable now." Victor was pained, in both his need for food and the idea that he needed to feed. "I guess there really is no way to ignore it. We need to find someone soon."  
"I thought we had control over this, Victor. I thought we were going to appeal to the first survivors we met." Sarah was having an increasingly difficult time keeping sane. The hunger was too much for her as well.  
Then she heard a response she was not expecting. It was a roar. No, it was two roars. Sarah suddenly wasn't in the mist anymore. She was in her body again, back in her eyes.  
There were two women across the street from the pair of zombies. One was carrying a shotgun that she obviously did not know how to use. The other was hefting a sack of something, most likely belongings, over her shoulder. Both looked absolutely terrified, and both were staring over at the two creatures only a road's width away from them.  
And Sarah realized that the roar she had heard had actually escaped from her throat. It was quite scary, she thought, that she didn't even have power over her own body anymore. It was a human brain inside the shell of an animal.  
A string of drool dripped from Victor's lips, and his animal shell growled again. Then he pushed forward and began to move as fast as his legs would go towards the two frightened women.  
Sarah's body made the same movement, and as much as the girl inside the body tried to hold herself back, the empty stomach below her consciousness was fueling her actions even more.  
When the two zombies were halfway across the street, the women finally snapped out of their horrible trance. The one with the shotgun lifted the barrel at Victor; she apparently saw the male as a bigger threat.  
She fired a shot and missed wildly. Victor continued to stumble towards her., unfazed, intent only on getting his meal.  
Sarah was circling around to get behind the sack-toting woman. This one would be easy prey; she was unarmed and looked like she had no strength to speak of. _It's only because we can't go on without food._ Sarah told herself, _It's necessary._  
Victor and Sarah claimed their meal. They ate, and were satisfied. And afterwards, they, both of them, were struck with grief over what they had done, and not stopped.

The survivors had survived their latest moment of peril, and come out with only a few minor injuries. Jessica's leg wasn't feeling any better, and in fact, it had been slammed up against something during the crash.  
Jeff has a cut along one of his eyebrows; it would leave a scar. He chuckled. _A mark of victory over my demise._  
Amaterasu was helping Liam to stand up and get away from the flames nearby. The latter didn't appreciate the help. He never appreciated any help; it was in his nature.  
The six survivors sat in an alleyway close to the mangled helicopter and discussed their situation. Liam cracked his neck, after receiving some trauma to it when he was in the pilot's seat.  
"I think we came down pretty close to the bridge." Liam told the rest of the group. "Our good friend Ralph was probably staying airborne longer to search for survivors, but he was already turning towards the island when he turned himself."  
Jessica nodded. "Alright, so the bridge is west of us, if the direction wasn't completely thrown off in the crash. We can make it across the bridge by the evening, providing there isn't any interference."  
Jeff huffed. "There're probably going to be lots of zombies surrounding the island. I don't know what kind of fortifications the military set up there, but I'm sure they have to constantly hold against the monsters that smell what's on the inside."  
Nick snapped his fingers and motioned to the other side of the alleyway. "Wait, guys, do you hear that?"  
They stopped talking and strained their ears to listen. There were moans. Moans were sounding from all around them, in the distance. Growls and yelps were interspersed, making the racket loud, but at the same time chilling. And more noises were joining in every second.  
Jackson put his fist on the brick wall beside him. "It's a mob. Big one, from the sound of it. Damn slugs probably saw the copter go down, and now they're looking for some cooked meat."  
"We'll have to evade them. Now that it's light out, it'll be tougher, but we can't get caught by them. Not now. We're so close."  
Nick stood, and Amaterasu did the same.  
"We'll get to the island, no matter what." Amaterasu said, his heart beating calmly. "If any one of us fall, the others _have_ to keep moving. There's no time to waste dragging the dying."  
"Right." Nick agreed. "So keep going and don't look back."  
"Alright, kiddos, is this the part where we all put our hands in the middle and yell 'Go team'? 'Cause if it ain't, we need to go."  
And they went.


End file.
